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Jesse's House
Physical Details The size of the entire property is approximately one full acre, or just over 43,000 square feet. Though the house is lavishly designed, it only totals at approximately 2,850 square feet. Ground Floor : The front of the house faces the Northeast. Most of the doors on this level are dark oak and slide away to hide in the walls. All of the floors with exception to the bathroom, solarium, ballroom, and kitchen are a slightly lighter shade of rosewood. There is also a separate garage off the northwest side of the house. The garden behind the house is just as lavish as the rest of the house, with plants from all over the world, but most notably birch trees and azaleas. :*'The foyer' directly leads to all the rooms on the ground floor except the kitchen and solarium and almost divides the floor down the middle. It houses the staircase and an alcove-seat, both of which are made of a combination of hand-carved rosewood and oak. The walls are white and there are several painting and mirrors hanging from them. There are also a couple tables here and there against the wall providing decoration. : Northern Corner :*'The parlor' is decorated in an eclectic mixture of antique and modern styles with a mostly light neutral color palette. It has two sets of windows, one facing northeast, the other facing northewst. It houses a bar with an extensively and expensively stocked liquor cabinet, a top-of-the-line audio system with Jesse's considerable collection of CDs, tapes, and records. and a sitting area of two long sofas, a smokey gray wing-back armchair (not pictured), a coffee table, and a rug. : Eastern Corner :*'The lounge '''is small and largely empty, only housing a large, bulky armchair, a single end-table, and a large television set. It also houses the east-facing windowed turret. :*'The living room''' is decorated similarly to the parlor, but with more modern inspiration and in a darker, but still mostly neutral color palette. It comprises half of a set of southeast-facing bay windows with the study. It houses a small seating area of a small sofa and an armchair with a single end-table (not pictured) between them. There is also a smaller entertainment center under the windows with a television and digital media players. A door directly connects this room to the study and the half-bathroom takes up the north corner, though there is not a door leading to it from this room. :*'The study' is also decorated similarly to the parlor and living room, but with more antique inspiration and a warmer and more colorful palette. It comprises half of a set of southeast-facing bay windows with the living room. All but the outside wall are lined with bookshelves. An agarwood desk resides on the outside wall under the windows. In the center of the room, above a rust-colored Russian rug, is a sitting area with a scarlet loveseat, two cream armchairs, and four teak end tables (not pictured). : Southern Corner :*'The dining room' is at the end of the foyer and is elegantly decorated in medium tones with no particular theme. It houses a small, corner-bend sofa, a minibar, several paintings, a ten-foot, antique, mahogany table that seats up to eight, and a fireplace on the southwest wall. This room leads directly to the ballroom, solarium, and kitchen. :*'The kitchen' has no generalized color palette or theme. There is a set of windows on the southwest-facing wall behind the island with three stools. They are made of stained glass depicting a desert landscape with colourful summer flowers. The cabinets are in unfinished, aged cherrywood with natural maple countertops. The walls under the cabinets are done in terracotta and onyx tiles, and the rest of the walls are painted charcoal with a venetian plaster finish. The appliances are all stainless steal with copper accessory hardware. The floor is covered with slate tiles that reflect the colors of the wall tiles. The pantry is at the far side of the room. This room leads directly outside to the covered porch. : Western Corner :*'The ballroom' is two-stories tall. The western-facing walls are lined with windows spanning the entire height. The walls are pale-blue and silver and are lined with statues and buttresses of various birds. The floors are black marble and the ceiling had a fresco depicting a moonscape avian paradise. There is a silver and crystal chandalier hanging in the center of the room and an ornate, lightly polished, ebony grand piano off to the side. This room leads directly to the solarium through a pair of french doors. :*'The solarium' is one-story tall and wraps around the western-facing wals of the ballroom. It is made almost entirely of glass, including the ceiling. The few spots of visible wall are painted a pale-gold. The floors are white limestone. There are various small sitting areas scattered throughout the room, including a small wrought iron café table with two chairs. There are also many plants, large and small. This room leads directly to the garden through a pair of french doors identical to those leading from the ballroom. On the outside, these doors are flanked with large crane statues. Upper Floor :On this level, the hall and audience area continue the rosewood floor from the ground level. The oak doors are also continued, but they are all standard swinging doors up here. :*'The hallway' overlooks most of the foyer, and like the foyer, it divides the floorplan. It's décor also reflects that of the foyer. : Northern Corner :*'Bernard's suite' is off a detour from the main hall and rarely used. The bedrrom has three northwest-facing windows, and the bedroom has two northeast-facing windows (not pictured). The floor is cheaply carpeted and there are few decorations and embellishments as per Bernard's request. This room used to be the servant's quaters. Beyond that, nothing else about this room will be described. : Eastern Corner :*The practice area is where Jesse often practices choreography and musical numbers. The audience seats ten members. In the turret is a minibar (not pictured). The stage itself is made of plywood painted black. This wood continues into the dressing room. The dressing room has two vanities and several file cabinets full of sheet music. Jesse also uses this room to house a small collection of costumes and as his closet for the parts of his wardrobe that don't fit in his armoire. There used to be a set of southeast-facing windows here when the space was a bedroom, but they were removed to keep the dressing room dark when necessary. :*The Guest suite is decorated in the same style as the ground floor, but in blues and greens. The bed is a four-poster light tigerwood frame with sheer cerulean fabric draped diagonally between the posts and down to the carpeted floor. There is a small sofa and an armoire (not pictured) in here. It connects directly to the public bathroom on the Upper Floor. While smaller than the Master Bathroom, it is still a comfortable size. It probably won't be described beyond this point. : Southern Corner :*Jesse's bedroom is also done in similar style to the rest of the house. The walls are white. Across from the door is a small fireplace with a hand-carved dark walnut mantle. Perpendicular to it is a lavender canapé-style sofa. Across from that is a smokey-gray wingback chair that matches the one in the parlor. The carpet is lush and speckled in various shades of gray. The bed is a dark walnut frame with an exquisite headboard adorned with carved peonies and warblers. The sheets are silver cotton and the comforter is a deep plum. The pillows have a brocade pattern in various shades of purple and silver. The bed faces a pair of french doors that lead to the balcony. The doors are flanked by two floor-to-ceiling windows. The vanity and armoire are also hand-cavred walnut. On either side of the vanity are two like the two by the door. All the windows and the doors are dressed with sheer white curtains. In the corner between the vanity and the bathroom is a full-length mirror. The balcony has a plaine terrazzo floor in white marble and limestone, and quartz. The balustrade is done in bronze. :*Jesse's bathroom has a Spanish theme. The walls are finished with venetian plaster in warm yellows and golds. Across from the door is a clawfoot tub. The feet and faucet are tarnished bronze and the basin is a dark, antique copper on the outside with classic porcelain on the inside. A single window hangs above the tub, and it's made of translucent stained glass with an abstract cathedral design in yellows and soft oranges. Next to the tub is a ashwood chaning bench with olive-green upholstery. The floor is a natural pattern of brown marble and aged, tan limestone that continues in the glass-paned shower and up behind the sink. The faucet here, as well as the toilet are done in a burnished bronze. An antique mirror framed in ornately designed gold hangs above the sink. History Originally built in 1877, this Victorian house first to belonged to a nameless and wealthy financier who held many grand parties in his home ballroom and extensive grounds. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the original owner lost his fortune. Now old, peniless, and without any family, he eventually killed himself at the age of 74. Having no inheritors, the house remained empty and slowly fell into disrepair. In the 1950s, the ballroom collapsed, destroying the surrounding solarium. However, the rest of the house remained fairly intact until the mid seventies when Bernard St. James bought it. Bernard did nothing to repair or upkeep it and its state steadily grew worse— several of the bedrooms eventually collapsed to the ground floor. The only inhabitable rooms were the lounge, parlor, dining room, and kitchen. Though the master bedroom and servant's quarters were also still standing, they were unreachable because the stairs had collapsed as well. Then, in the Summer of 1996, Talia St. James sent her son, Jesse to live there. Talia oversaw basic renovations to bring the house up to livable conditions, notably removing the rubble of the collapsed ballroom. However, she did not spend very much money on making it a beautiful place to live. In the Autumn and Winter of 2010, Jesse St. James restored the house after his godmother died. He hired a team of expert architects and interior designers who specialized in Victorian architecture and restorations to return the house as close as possible to the orginal design. The ground floor remained mostly true to the original with a few updates, but during the rebuilding of the ballroom and solarium, Jesse decided to alter the plans and dedicate them to his godmother's memory. However, the upper floor was significantly changed. Jesse expanded the three bathrooms and changed the old servant's quarters into a bedroom for Bernard. He also revamped two of the bedrooms into a practice performing stage. The final modification he made was to build a separate garage.